Sisco: Mideast Peace Must Include Legitimate Needs of Refugees and Palestinian Arabs

Assistant Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco returned from a two-week “orientation tour” of the Middle East Friday with renewed expressions of concern for peace in that area. Special significance was attached to his remark that the U.S. government had a “keen awareness of the sense of frustration” of the Palestinian Arabs and that there could be “no peace that does not take due account of the legitimate concerns” of the refugees and other Palestinian people. Mr. Sisco made a similar remark before leaving Teheran. Iran after the close of a two-day conference of U.S. chiefs of mission in the Mideast. He said a “just, honorable and durable peace is not possible unless it meets the legitimate concerns of the many people whose lives are touched daily by the so-called Palestinian question.” Observers here said these remarks demonstrated a striking new emphasis for an American policy statement on the political strength of the Palestinian refugees.

During a brief stopover in Rome on his way home Mr. Sisco told newsmen that chances for peace between the Arabs and Israelis had not improved. “Realistically, one must realize that the differences between the parties are still substantial.” he said. He added that it would be “unrealistic to expect an early solution to this problem.” He also thought it unlikely that an agreement could be reached with the Soviet Union to limit the shipment of arms to the region. He said Moscow’s response to American approaches on that question had been negative over the past year. Mr. Sisco’s Middle East tour took him to Cairo, Tel Aviv and Beirut. He was forced to cancel a scheduled stop-over at Amman, Jordan because of guerrilla-led anti-American riots. He spent only four hours in Lebanon where he was also greeted by anti-American demonstrations. His four-day stop-over in Cairo was regarded as of special significance. It was the first visit by a high ranking American diplomat since Egypt severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. There was speculation that the restoration of diplomatic relations between Cairo and Washington may have come up in their discussions. But Mr. Sisco and Undersecretary of State Elliot L. Richardson who joined him at Teheran, said no attempts were made to reach “any new departures in policy” during the discussions in the Mideast. The polarization of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the growing anti-American sentiment in the Arab world were among the topics taken up at the Teheran meeting.